Just before Election Day 2008, I purchased these three buttons at a Gap location near my Manhattan workplace. The Gap had invited ten artists to create buttons incorporating the word “VOTE,” and the resulting designs were selling for $5 apiece. (A dollar from each sale was donated to the voter-registration initiative Declare Yourself.) The artists were Fab5Freddy, John Baldessari, Adam Pendleton, Kara Walker, Nate Lowman, John Waters, Deborah Kass, Assume Vivid Astro Focus, Laurie Simmons, and Sean Landers.

I purchased buttons from three artists: Assume Vivid Astro Focus (the psychedelic letters playing on Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE), Kara Walker (the silhouette of a girl’s head), and Laurie Simmons (the cat figurines). I wish I had bought a full set.

A lot has changed over the past eight years. A lot has not changed. Remember to vote today if you’re registered.